FY 2000 Budget Presented to TC Community
On April 13, Steven Weinberg, the Director of Budget and Planning presented the proposed FY 2000 budget to the TC community. This session was one of a series of planned presentations to communicate the progress and the essential elements of the College's operating budget.
After presenting a preliminary budget to the faculty on March 4th and scheduling almost a month for faculty review, input and recommendations, Weinberg reported that FY 2000 revenues were anticipated to increase by 5.6%, or almost $4 million. He added that the expense distribution was basically the same as that in FY 1999 with the exception that the academic program increased by 1%, or approximately $750,000, with a corresponding decrease in institutional support. What was presented to the community that had not been defined on March 4 were the specifics of how the additional $4 million for new investments would be allocated.
The two largest components of additional expenditures were $1.7 million to fund a 3 percent increase in salary for faculty and staff and $600,000 to recruit seven faculty.
The budget also includes $115,000 to bolster the faculty grants program and a $40,000 increase for library acquisitions. Weinberg explained that this increase will allow the library to renew or re-establish subscriptions to journals and periodicals, which have gone up substantially in price in the over the past few years. Audio-visual media services are slated to receive a $110,000 increase to improve and expand services.
Another priority in the FY 2000 budget is the provision for a microcomputer/LAN analyst, with the goal of improved response time and support to all desktop computer users. The budget also plans to provide $24,000 for additional services to students with disabilities.
The FY 2000 budget continues to emphasize the planned renovation and repair of facilities with an increase of $100,000 over FY 1999. An additional $80,000 will be budgeted for emergency repairs to building systems that have deteriorated due to many years of neglect. In addition, Weinberg and Vice President of Finance and Administration Fred Schnur announced that $35,000 would be dedicated to replacing classroom furniture. This is an initial investment for a scheduled replacement of classroom furnishings.
The College plans to increase tuition by $30 to $670 per credit, an increase of 4.7%. Weinberg noted that this continues a downward trend and is the lowest percentage increase in 10 years.
After presenting these figures to the general community, Schnur and Weinberg met with the Faculty Executive Committee and the Business and Finance Committee of the Trustees. The faculty will have considered the recommended budget before it is presented to the Trustees in early May. Weinberg said that an important goal of the Budget Office is to "enhance community participation, particularly among faculty through implementing structural changes to the budget calendar, meeting regularly with faculty representatives and communicating critical budgetary issues throughout the budget cycle."
"The budget is simply a plan," Schnur told the group. "It is an ongoing process." As such, the budget process is under continued revision to provide funds where they are needed and where they will be needed in the future. Weinberg encouraged the community to make budgeting a year-round process where problems and needs are communicated in a timely manner and to begin to examine current operations to improve efficiency and productivity.
Published Sunday, Apr. 14, 2002